Wednesday, 21 August 2013

Needles and Pins plus new Tings

Redditch is a small town, but despite this it used to punch well above it's weight in high end engineer manufacture. Redditch produced aircraft parts for Hawker Siddeley, motorbikes at Royal Enfield and BSA, and was the undisputed world leader in the production of needles. The needle industry was huge and my mother worked at Abel Morrall producing both sewing needles and surgical needles.

Me and Fern went to Forge Mill Museum to see the needle exhibits.

All that remains of this once great industry is 1 floor of a museum that is no bigger than a small house!

The politics of greed took over in the 80's, manufacture was moved abroad for quick, cheap return and this is all that's left....

Hawker Siddeley, where my dad worked and BSA where my grandparents worked, are now just foot notes in history. All that's left in our town are nail bars, coffee bars and pound shops.

People are trying to do something creative, albeit with very little support from the council and in a town where the main income comes from benefits. Craft sellers and vintage sellers are starting to appear and I hope that one day I will be able to join them.

5 comments:

Fabulous pieces, I particularly love the brooch. I live in little rural town that has an incredibly strong sense of resilience, it's amazing what communities can achieve if they work together. I think we have more local community based organizations (and volunteers) per capita than any place in the world!!!

The needle cases are gorgeous, I've never seen the like of them!Is this old building the one above the railway station at Redditch? I think I recognize it, I love these old brick factories, I agree, it would be great to see them renovated in a gallery!!Beautiful choker and its white patina, is it brass?Love the coral stick lariat and the milagro brooch!